7.17.2008

The old man across the street mows his lawn every other day. That's 3 - 4 times a week! He doesn't break it up into sections, doing a little each day. No, he mows all of it. Each time. I can imagine him in his yard with a ruler every morning "Honey, the grass is an eighth of an inch taller than it was yesterday... time to mow again." Of course he's British, so it'd be more "Honey, the grass is three millimeters taller than it was yesterday... time to mow again."

It's good for him, because he's retired. He has the free time and probably needs the exercise. But I work 40+ hours a week, go to school full time, and have an active toddler that needs near constant attention/supervision/entertainment. How, in the name of all that is good an holy, am I supposed to keep up with frequent-mower man? It shouldn't be a big deal. Except, he's in charge of our Home Owner's Association. And he's complaining about how our yard has clover in it.

I hate HOAs. Especially the HOAs that are controlled by retirees with nothing better to do than spy on their neighbors or find things to complain about. Are all HOAs like that, or just ours?

7.14.2008

The bathroom in our office has bugs. Actually, make that bug – as in singular. I’ve never seen more than one of those tiny little flying things in that bathroom. What kind of bug is it? I have no idea. It’s too small to be a fly or a tick. A flea maybe? Or a gnat? I don’t know. My biggest concern is that there is only one. And if you kill it, another one appears.

Maybe it’s a zombie bug – an undead insect. There’s no way you could kill such a creature. But if it was a zombie bug, where all the other bugs? There’s no such thing as a lone zombie. If it was a zombie – there’d be a horde of them looking to infect others with their zombie virus.

What happened to all the other bugs? Maybe they’re cannibal bugs – eating their own kind. Like a microscopic king-of-the-hill game where the losers all become dinner. But that doesn’t explain why a new bug appears after one is killed. Or why only one reappears instead of several.

Maybe they’re zombie-cannibal bugs. That would solve both paradoxes. Then again, that explanation sounds like the title to a low-budget b-movie sci-fi flick. “ATTACK OF THE KILLER ZOMBIE-CANNIBAL INSECTS FROM OUTER SPACE” Heck, it might even be a bit more believable than some other movies I’ve seen.

7.03.2008

The books from Family Phil's contest finally arrived. I'll be busy reading for a while. I started with The Film Club last night in bed, intending to fall asleep after a couple of chapters. I finally stopped myself about halfway through the book. Insomnia - good fun.

Two of the books are going to my father, that leaves another nine, plus Velvet Elvis (which I just started last week) to keep me busy this summer.

About

nic is a geek dad, a professional nerd, a pop-culture junkie, a joyful noise kind of singer (with an emphasis on noise), a sloppy and undisciplined guitarist, and a funky white boy with no sense of rhythm. He is a former actor who still loves the theater, a former architecture student who still loves drafting and design, and a former graphic artist who has lost his touch. He has an artist's heart with very little artistic talent. He is a pessimistic optimist or an optimistic pessimist.

He spends Thursday nights watching movies with his kids and hangs out with his church's worship band on the weekends. His thoughts end up here.The Faithful Geek is nic's exploration of parenthood, corporate life, and the strange intersection where faith and pop culture meet.